From Secret Clan to the Divine Dynasty

“You only lost seven guards, and then you killed this Extraordinary Exponent who had reached Level 2? Moreover, you said that Baron Byrne is currently not in Nasir?”

The supporters who had come to assist gathered outside Fischer Manor, exchanging perplexed glances over the body of the old man.

Irene nodded, responding with utmost calm, “That is indeed the case. He might have been one of those who lack combat experience, and his luck was not very good, either.”

How did they do it?

The old priest was extremely astonished inside. He was not very surprised that the Fischer family could deal with a Spellcaster who had undergone Transmutation.

But the fact that they had easily eliminated a Spellcaster of the Transmutation rank who launched a night attack was astounding.

Oh, Transmutation, he must accustom himself to the new terminologies of the reformists in the future.

Aaron and Knight Verne exchanged glances, equally surprised by the Fischer family’s strength being greater than it seemed.

They were well aware of one thing: the difference in preparedness greatly affected battles between Extraordinary Exponents, with the advantage of striking first being significant.

A Transmutation rank Extraordinary Exponent launching a surprise attack could theoretically annihilate the Fischer family, yet it was the formidable evil cultists who were easily killed by Fischer.

“Mr. Byrne really isn’t in Nasir?” the old priest couldn’t help but confirm this fact again and again; if Baron Byrne also had been present, everything would make sense.

“He’s not.” Irene shook her head, as there was no longer any need to hide the truth.

“Ah, alright, I understand, Madam Irene. I express my condolences for the victims in this incident. The power of the Tempest Overlord will seek vengeance for them sooner or later,” said the old priest, repeating the official platitudes, yet he grew even more wary of the Fischer family deep down, before he continued:

“Then, I will report the entire sequence of events at the earliest opportunity. The Assistant Priest may come to Nasir again.”

After pondering for a moment, Irene nodded, “Hmm, that should be around the time when Byrne is due back. They have a closer relationship.”

The Assistant Priest to the Tempest Bishop, that Priest Zayne, always interacted with Byrne rather than Irene when he visited Nasir Town.

Thus, if the Fischer family were to host him again, it would be best for Byrne to take responsibility.

Successfully killing an evil cultist of the Sea God Cult who had reached the rank of Transmutation brought great gains to the Fischer family.

They obtained a Treasure class Mysterious rare artifact, a Collectible class Mysterious rare artifact, and a magic beast that had two heads similar to a terrapin.

Since the Summoner had died, the summoned creature did not return to its habitat as usual but lingered on the East Coast instead.

This was a beast whose mobility was almost nonexistent, but its attack and defense capabilities far outstripped those of a high-level Beginning Bloodline Knight.

Although it fell short of a Bloodline Knight who had undergone Transmutation, what mattered most was that the beast’s temperament was very docile; if fed meat, it was willing to obey and could be kept in the family’s pond.

While nobody knew exactly what species the “two-headed terrapin” belonged to, it was presumed that Byrne would be able to name it upon his return.

Among the two harvested Mysterious rare artifacts, the first was a silver-looking brooch with silver lightning runes on its backside.

“Banishing Lightning,” it could automatically detect targets within a ten-meter radius that harbored lethal intent and threat, and then unleash lightning to obliterate them.

However, there would be a thirty-second interval before its Extraordinary effect could be activated again after each use.

This was a Treasure class Mysterious rare artifact, highly valuable indeed.

Irene decided to offer it to the revered Lord of the Lost, who had decreed that they no longer needed Collectible class Mysterious rare artifacts, whereas those of the Treasure class were still suitable offerings.

As for the second artifact, “evil wood,” it appeared as a black short staff, with Spiritual Power only at the Collectible level.

It was a weapon suitable for close to mid-range combat, capable of releasing a Lethality-inducing cloud of black poison upon a targeted enemy, while the bearer of the staff would be immune to the poison within the mist.

If Archibald had rashly approached the old man pretending to be dead, he would have been attacked by it!

Since there was no longer a need to offer Collectible class Mysterious rare artifacts, after contemplating, Irene ultimately decided to allocate this artifact to Vanessa.

She calmly spoke to the jubilant Vanessa:

“Vanessa, you’ve performed very well, not just staying inside the manor but collaborating with Chris and Archibald to decapitate the enemy.”

“Without your assistance, Chris wouldn’t have been able to interrupt him before another Summoning, and the subsequent situation might not have been so smooth.”

Vanessa was delighted, secretly coming to a realization.

Power and status stemmed from strength. Previously, she had not dared to harbour such thoughts, but now, if she could receive more blessings from the Lord of the Lost,

Perhaps, I too could possess power on par with the Transmutation rank.

It dawned on her, yes, both the head of the Fischer family and Lord Byrne had started as ordinary people!

They had achieved what they had from ordinary beginnings, and she was even luckier having the natural gift of a Spellcaster; it was not impossible to grasp even greater power!

If she really could reach that level, even with a cursed body that had its disabilities and without her own family, she would fully qualify to stand by his side.

Vanessa stole a glance at Chris who stood silently in the corner.

To her surprise, she found that Chris was also staring at her with a blank expression. In an instant, her face turned crimson, and she dared not look in that direction anymore.

Irene quietly observed the subtle exchanges between the youth and the young girl but said nothing.

Although both thought they had hidden their feelings well, as their elder, she had long known the thoughts of Chris and Vanessa.

Vanessa was right in her thinking; as long as she possessed enough power, the Fischer family was willing to accept her as Chris’s wife.

If Vanessa never reached that level, Irene would prefer for Chris to marry a daughter from a viscount family, bringing more resources and better bloodlines to the family.

Once Chris broke through to the 3rd Rank, he would have the qualification to marry into a viscount family.

Byrne was the head of one branch of the Fischer family, while Irene was the Dawn Church’s sole priest, technically holding a status even above Byrne’s.

She led several core members to the basement, where everyone knelt before the sacred object, and then, with due reverence, Irene presented the “Banishing Lightning” to start the new ritual.

Karl calmly looked at the new food.

It was a Treasure class mysterious rare artifact, possessing even more Spiritual Power than the other Treasure class artifacts he had absorbed before, and was considered quite good even among its counterparts.

By now, he was certain that the transparent bottle had originally been at least Forbidden class.

“Indeed, Treasure class mysterious artifacts have a flavor. This time it tastes like beef broth, not only fully replenishing the Spirituality I spent due to mental communication but also granting me even more.”

The signs of the third Seal loosening became even more apparent!

After the “Banishing Lightning” was completely devoured, it transformed into a silver-white rune shaped like a lightning bolt.

Karl fell into deep thought, pondering a crucial decision.

Should he deconstruct it into rune essence for the nourishment of other runes, or should he grant the activation right to Darren who still had no runes?

Even if he turned it into rune essence, he wouldn’t be able to evolve any current runes directly.

Because both “transcend” and “Iron Wall” were already spirit runes, their evolution to the next stage required a great deal, and “Healing,” with its strong foundation, also had a significant demand simply for the evolution to a spirit rune.

Yet granting it to Darren, a child of merely seven, would also be pointless for now.

In the end, Karl decided to deconstruct the Lightning rune into pieces of rune essence and poured all the rune essence he had extracted from Collectible class items gathered over the years into the “Healing” rune.

Its evolution into a spirit rune rapidly advanced significantly.

Whereas the “Healing” rune originally required thirty ordinary rune’s essences to evolve into a spirit rune, now it needed only fifteen.

“At least a visible pie in the sky is the most likely result to be obtained in the coming years, but it’s uncertain what kind of power the ‘Healing’ will transform into after its evolution.”

Karl soon witnessed the Fischer family members begin their regular post-battle review, summarizing the mistakes and experiences from the fight, and Irene even had Vanessa take down the notes.

The good practice brought by Byrne’s personality was instilling in the whole Fischer family the importance of experience and review. After each training drill and actual combat, they would collectively brainstorm on how to perform better next time.

Even though they achieved great success in the latest battle, the Fischer family did not become arrogant or complacent.

The Fischer family was making modest progress now. Although still very weak and treading carefully, they had at least formed a rudimentary framework of a family that could grow much stronger.

What surprised Karl a bit was that Erik, who usually didn’t talk much and was somewhat antisocial, could not stop contributing during the review phase.

“I think the greatest advantage of the Fischer family lies in that we can grasp the enemy’s intelligence in advance. This time we knew the enemy was a Summoner type Spellcaster, so we decided to employ decapitation tactics immediately,” he said.

“Another point is that we can constantly lock onto the enemy’s position with Secret Ear and Tracking Senses, whereas our opponents have no way to grasp or even be aware of Young Master Chris’s presence,” he added.

“Although individually we are nowhere as strong as that Minotaur, we could use ordinary people to delay it while we combine our forces to strike at the enemy’s critical weaknesses,” he continued.

Everyone agreed with Erik’s insights, as the results of this battle were nearly perfect, in stark contrast to the ordeal with the Spawn of the Abyss, where the enemy’s Extraordinary Exponent completely controlled the pace of the fight.

The most crucial point was that they had been sufficiently prepared in advance, having already secured half the victory before the battle even started.

If it wasn’t a defensive battle on their ground, but an ambush in unfamiliar territory, the members of the Fischer family could have been annihilated by the enemy.

Archibald suddenly looked down and said:

“These past years, I’ve actually been complaining in my heart that Mr. Byrne was too strict during our training and that the post-fight reviews were almost maddening. Now I understand that I was the one who was wrong.”

A few days later, Byrne and Theo returned.

After hearing the whole account of the events, his expression changed dramatically.

“So who exactly leaked my whereabouts?”